10 BEST States for Distance Running

Worst has to start with Connecticut. Then, it'd probably include New York, North Dakota, Alaska, and Nevada. Not sure what other states would make the list.

What about Ohio. Jesse Owens. D3 championships indoor and outdoor last year. And the bigges high school CC state championship in the nation

Logmiles wrote:

What about Ohio. Jesse Owens. D3 championships indoor and outdoor last year. And the bigges high school CC state championship in the nation

Cue the "how fast could Jesse Owens run a 5k" thread.

There is no way that Alaska is one of the worst states for distance runners. If anything it is one of the better states. You have great trails nearly everywhere. You have mountains. You have great scenery. You don't have to run on crappy trails. Depending on where you are in the state, you'll likely have snow from November to March. In Anchorage (where the majority of the population resides), the trails are groomed in the winter so the snow really isn't a huge deal. Wind is minimal, so the perceived temperatures aren't below the actual temperatures.

If you are huge wuss and can't handle some cold weather (usually 10 to 20 degrees during December-February), then sure, maybe it wouldn't be for you. But we can go out and run 10-20 miles nearly any time of any day of the year. We don't have to deal with overly hot running (which you can't dress for). We don't have to deal with running on roads. The only real negative is the minimal running scene up here. Most of the races have minimal depth and it is expensive to fly to the lower 48 to get into bigger races.

All in all, it is a great place to train. I'm sure most of you would be pleasantly surprised if you came up for a year.

This may be biased, but virginia has produced Alan webb, the #1 in the country in the 5k that goes to liberty, lot of good home grown athletes, good trails, good scenery, the W&OD trail (50 miles), access to DC, lots of running shops/bikers/runners flocking the streets everywhere in northern virginia at least. High quality of living, expensive though. The only downside is the humidity and occasional air quality drift down from DC.

Man, you can have Hawaii. I love it and I've done a ton of running there but if you aren't done before the sun comes up, forget it! And I regularly run in the 90s in the CA Central Valley with no problem.

Forest B. Rainin wrote:

island man wrote:

1. Hawaii

Shhh, don't tell anyone.

Tennessee.

TennesseeTennessee wrote:

Tennessee.

+100 I was just about to say Tennessee. They're like the outdoor capital of the US.

Nebraska

Oregon

California

Colorado

www.teamnebraska.com

not sure why people are considering Oregon one of the best and Washington a good ways behind... the states are almost identical aside from the fact that Washington has a bigger population (and Oregon has the Nike HQ, whereas Washington only has the Brooks HQ.... Portland is a little better than most of Seattle for running, but Bellingham and Spokane more than even things out in that regard)

My picks...

1/2. Oregon/Washington (either order)

3. California

4/5/6/7. Utah/Idaho/Colorado/Montana

8/9/10. Massachusetts/Montana/Wyoming

hfihfgfijrigijgi49r9i34et54367 wrote:

1. cali

2. colorado

3. oregon

4. washington

5. new mexico

6. arizona

7. alaska

8. montana

9. utah

10 wyoming

No clear-cut states after that. East coast blows compared to west coast.

Not necessarily. I'm from the East Coast, but have lived on the West Coast for nearly 20 years. There are great DR states on both sides. I would have to say though, the deep southern states are the armpit for running.

I grew up in Illinois and have spent an ass load of time in Michigan. The weather sucks and that limits the distance running quality significantly. You can have that moquito infested rats nest.

If quality runners are the determining factor, number one has to be Illinois:

Luke V

Torres

Torres

Sage

Withrow

Broe

Jager

Derrick

Going back a ways:

Virgin

Popejoy

Wohlhuter

These are off the top of my head, I've probably missed a few.

Most of these lists aren't following the criteria from the Ten Worst Running States thread. Saying states like Idaho, Wyoming, etc. doesn't at all consider competition (no big meets) and quality of runners there/from there.

Def Illinois.

Illinois High School All Time 1600m List (This was before Verzibicas, Driggs, Jager, Derrick, Withrow, Torres')

1. 3:58.9 Donald Sage 2000 Elmhurst York

2. 4:02.1 Tom Sullivan '61 - Evanston St. George.

3. 4:04.0 Dave Merrick '71 - New Lenox Lincoln-Way.

4. 4:04.1 Craig Virgin '73 - Lebanon.

5. 4:04.8 Jim Spivey '78 - Bensenville Fenton

6. 4:05.0 Stephen Pifer 2003 – Edwardsville.

7. 4:05.7 Andy Isla-Rupert '70 - Hillside Proviso West.

8. 4:05.7 Todd McCallister '77.

9. 4:06.1 Mark Deady '85 - Lincolnshire Stevenson.

10. 4:06.4 Ron Wartgow '76 - Belvidere.

11. 4:06.6 Bill Fritz '74 - Glen Ellyn Glenbard West.

12. 4:06.9 Mike Durkin '71 - River Grove Holy Cross.

13. 4:07.2 Robert Gary '91 - Evanston.

14. 4:07.2 Bob Hicks '77 - Orland Park Sandburg.

15. 4:07.3 Bruce Bowman '65 - Hillside Proviso West.

16. 4:07.3 Jim White '85 - Elmhurst York.

17. 4:07.9 Ken Popejoy '69 - Glen Ellyn Glenbard West.

18. 4:07.9 Tom Graves '77 - Orland Park Sandburg.

19. 4:08.0 Kevin Hedenberg '89 - Schaumburg.

20. 4:08.2 Tim Phillips '84 - Arlington Heights St. Viator.

21. 4:08.5 Matt Nolan '80 - Naperville Central. was 1600m

22. 4:08.6 Lee Labadie '68 - Des Plaines Maine West.

23. 4:08.6 Reo Rorem '76 - Gilman.

24. 4:08.8 Dick Babb '70 - Homewood-Flossmoor.

25. 4:08.8 Ray Cardinal '77 - Wauconda.

26. 4:09.0 Tom Stevens '79 - Deerfield.

27. 4:09.1 Ron Craker '76 - Elmhurst York.

28. 4:09.2 Marius Bakken '96 - Elmhurst York.

29. 4:09.4 Rich Elliott '68 - Hillside Proviso West.

30. 4:09.5 Jim Hurt '72 - Hillside Proviso West.

31. 4:09.5 Mark McAllister '78 - Deerfield.

32. 4:09.6 Rick Johnson '70 - Northlake West Leyden.

33. 4:09.7 Kip Smith '75 - Oak Park-River Forest.

34. 4:09.8 Dave Berg '71 - Decatur Stephen Decatur.

35. 4:09.9 John Sullivan '77 - Dolton Thornridge.

1. Hawaii

2. California

3. Oregon

4. Virginia

5. Colorado

6. Washington

7. Arizona

8. Pennsylvania

9. Utah

10. Vermont

agree on hawaii NOT being the place to train. i did a lot of running on the big island (hawaii itself) and between the weather that you are frequently running on road are strikes against.

beautiful though and if you smoke...

just look who wins footlocker and nike team nationals.

The midwest is by far the best over the years

3 of the last 5 Americans to place at a major marathon are from Los Angeles: Meb, Deena, and Ryan.